Our mission is to provide unparalleled standard of audio education to the students at a very affordable fee. We want India to be projected not just as a cost-effective market for our industry but a place, a haven where film makers, artists and other professionals will find the best of the talents globally”.
Driven by this motto, The Audio Guys Institute or TAG emphasizes on delivering excellent educational and infrastructural facilities to the students. It provides the opportunity to learn from leading industry professionals who have contributed to various critically and commercially acclaimed music, films, and other media in studios that include some of the most advanced consoles, processors, computers, and softwares.
TAG is India’s most advanced school for sound engineering and music production. The founders of the institute, Jayakrishnan Nalinkumar (JK), Anupam Sathe, and Omkar Tamhan are professional sound engineers who have worked on international tours, music, and broadcast projects to some of India’s biggest artists and cinemas over the last decade. Omkar and JK additionally share some history as they are graduates from the same audio school in Australia. Back then, the three of them often discussed about the infrastructure and offerings that India has for sound and music education.
Soon, they realized that even though the industry was full of amazingly skilled professionals, India was not able to tap into its full potential of creative minds due to the lack of infrastructure and future technologies. What sparked was an initiative to better the education for sound and music in India.
TAG was never an institute; rather, it was a wave of change. The trio tried convincing the existing institutes to upgrade and also offered their services to help them achieve the same. With no light to this tunnel, they decided that it is best to establish an institution which does not just request for an upgrade but is the upgrade itself.
TAG features three world class studios with equipment mainly created and hosted by the biggest professional facilities in the world. In addition to that, TAG is completely founded on extensive use of tools for E learning with companies like Microsoft and class pro. All this is situated in the heart of industry which allows them to expose students to some of the biggest professional establishments in the country regularly.
Embracing Technology for Better Learning Outcomes
“Learning for our students is emphasised on future technologies to provide them at least a 3-5 years’ head start as compared to other with similar experience in the field,” states team TAG. Technologies like Dolby ATMOS sound for virtual reality and “games is not an optional but a mandatory unit for the institute. Understanding and providing services for major companies like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney, Hotstar, and more are also part of the compulsory curriculum. These functions have been made possible because of the institute’s immensely respected and experienced WPL (working professional lecturers).
Prolific Leadership
TAG marches towards excellence and success under the fervent direction of the founders- Jayakrishnan Nalinkumar (JK), Anupam Sathe, and Omkar Tamhan. Mr. Omkar is the youngest of the three founders. Mr. JK and Mr. Anupam brought on teaching experience of over a decade when they started working together. Over 1000 students have learned under their guidance and have been successfully working in the industry. They have designed specific teaching methodologies that really helps students understand a complicated subject like audio production in the simplest of ways. This foundation allowed Mr. Omkar to ideate and execute further ideas. His major experience in sound has been in technology and service provider for social media celebrities like Bhuvan Bam, Carryminati, and more. This gave him a hindsight to the future tech and the true market potential early on. When people were speculating the future of cinema, the trio of Mr. Anupam, Mr. JK, and Mr. Omkar were busy preparing for the storm of content that was about hit due to the digital revolution.
Their major reason of success is that they have not tied their success to any single person’s action. They are believers of change and because of the timing, they believe that they are now in a position where the content industry of India has started to see some changes due to the efforts of TAG.
Exploring the Extra-Curricular
TAG conducts a host of extra/cocurricular activities. Apart from the live events and programmes embedded in the course itself, the institute continuously engages in workshops, exercises, and personality building activities.
As an institute, TAG makes the students aware of the benefits of these activities in their professional career and guides them through their interests and doubts alike. This helps them make the best decision around such activities.
The Achievement Panel
The Audio Guys Institute has successfully engaged in over 75 films in the last 2 years. Titles include blockbusters like AK vs AK, Mumbai Diaries, Bhuvan Bam’s Dhindora, and many others. It has also hosted over 150 recording sessions with artists such as Sivamani, Sachin Jigar, Merchant Records, Bombay Strings, Meghdeep Bose, Purbayan Chatterjee, Rakesh Chaurasia, and many more.
Taking on the COVID Challenge
TAG did not face too many challenges during the pandemic as advanced technology was already embedded in the school’s infrastructure. However, minor changes had to be made in the curriculum and also redesigning certain modules imparting online activities and content that were accessible to students from any part of the world. The institute’s online licencing server also provided access to required softwares for students to learn from their homes. “We got through this understanding and acquiring better tools and professionals who sailed us through these waters,” shares the management.
Shaping Careers Dynamically
The entire course of TAG is programmed keeping professional participation as a key ingredient. It pays utmost attention towards its faculty roaster. The institute invites professionals because it knows that students learn much more than just direct education when they interact with a professional. Another important step that TAG has taken is that it has made topics based on business studies and digital marketing compulsory for the students. This is kept in the course keeping the modern nature of the industry in mind. Also, the internship programme makes it compulsory for every student to assist in professional projects that happens at the facility to have an in-depth understanding of how the industry functions and also to develop relationships with composers, musicians, and other professionals much before they enter the industry.
A Bright Future Awaits
With the focus on the times to come, team TAG is working hard towards being the institute that not only teaches the student with education, but also guides them to help transition from an educational to a professional outlook in life. This added with its vision to make the country a hub for creative professionals is a future that everyone at TAG works towards.
